from Joe Haggerty of CSNNE,
All is quiet with Torey Krug and the Boston Bruins. That’s probably exactly the way the Boston front office has mapped it out.
Due to the interesting circumstances behind their first pro contracts, neither Krug nor Reilly Smith have full restricted free-agent rights; instead, they're entry-level restricted free agents. Both Krug and Smith got that designation after burning the first year of their entry-level deals coming out of the NCAA, and currently have just two years of service time in pro hockey.
They can’t sign any offer sheets this summer, can’t move to any other teams, don’t have any arbitration rights and are fully under the power of a salary cap-strapped Bruins team while waiting for new bridge-type contracts....
It was believed initially that both Krug and Smith could be looking at second contracts in the Ondrej Palat/Tyler Johnson range of 3 years/$10 million. Now that won’t be happening this summer, given their service-time status.
It’s much more likely that Krug and Smith will be steered into signing one- or two-year deals in the $1 million-2 million AAV (average annual value) range that are friendly to the organization. That’s clearly a positive development for Peter Chiarelli and the Bruins, but isn’t so great for exciting young players in Krug and Smith after breakout NHL campaigns in 2013-14.
read on for more on Krug...
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